European Indoor Athletics Championships – The perfect place for the rising stars If the smaller nations take this event to grab some extra attention, the main European athletics powers take the Indoor Champs to promote newcomers, to give the taste of top c ompetition to their youngsters and Belgrade 2017 saw all that The mandatory absence of Russia would always pave way for others to shine and get podium spots, being the Eastern European powerhouse the biggest athletics contender in the ‘Old Continent’. Yet, Belgrade 2017 witnessed some confirmations, several surprises, young guns making a name and high profiled athletes putting on top quality performances. There were also disappointments, as always, but the focus should be on the positive sides. The home crowd had a second day disillusion with their shot put thrower Kolasinac, candidate to a medal, missing out on the final, but all was forgotten with the closing individual event, as expected, with home favorite Ivana Spanovic not only winning the long jump but establishing at each jump a new national record and becoming the third all-time athlete in the indoor long jump! 43 countries have already claimed medals in the history of the European Athletics Indoors, some of them extinct in their previous forms, like the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and of course the two Germanys, East and West. Between 1970 and 1990 the event was yearly and not always respecting the 200 meters running track. In 2002 the European Athletics Federation changed the event to uneven years, coinciding in the year with the Athletics Worlds Outdoors, having a three year hiatus in between and starting the uneven year event in 2005.
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